The Gentleman S Daughter

Sir Henry, secret agent to the crown, must marry a lady above reproach to afford his illegitimate daughter entrance into society. After narrowly escaping marriage to a highborn bigot, he takes an assignment in Brighton, leading him to an abandoned abbey full of dark whispers, and a sinister secret society, the very one Henry has been investigating for three years. Isabella is as beautiful as she is talented, but falling in love isn't part of her plans. She only wants to paint, forget her painful past, and keep her overbearing mother at bay. But gaining one's independence isn't easy for a woman in 1823, so Isabella embarks on a fake courtship with Sir Henry. Soon, love and a painting career no longer seem so utterly incompatible. But when the man Isabella fears most kidnaps her, all appears lost. Realizing the kidnapper is part of the same organization he is investigating, Henry chases after them. Entrapped in a web of secrets, both Henry and Isabella must face old enemies, and fight for their happily ever after.

Based on a study of the letters, diaries and account books of over 100 women from commercial, professional and gentry families, mainly in provincial England, this book provides an account of the lives of genteel women in Georgian times.

This is the second book in the popular Gentleman Spy Mysteries — read this as a standalone or look for the first book, The Innkeeper's Daughter! Sir Henry, secret agent to the crown, must marry a lady above reproach to afford his illegitimate daughter entrance into society. After narrowly escaping marriage to a highborn bigot, he takes an assignment in Brighton, leading him to an abandoned abbey full of dark whispers, and a sinister secret society, the very one Henry has been investigating for three years. Isabella is as beautiful as she is talented, but falling in love isn't part of her plans. She only wants to paint, forget her painful past, and keep her overbearing mother at bay. But gaining one's independence isn't easy for a woman in 1823, so Isabella embarks on a fake courtship with Sir Henry. Soon, love and a painting career no longer seem so utterly incompatible. But when the man Isabella fears most kidnaps her, all appears lost. Realizing the kidnapper is part of the same organization he is investigating, Henry chases after them. Entrapped in a web of secrets, both Henry and Isabella must face old enemies, and fight for their happily ever after. The third book in the The Gentleman Spy Mysteries, The Memory of Her, is coming in April 2022.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The women in this study were from families headed by lesser landed gentlemen, attorneys, doctors, clerics, merchants, and manufacturers. They were not pretentious about their aristocracy, but they did not pretend to be members of the fashionable cosmopolitan beau monde. #2 The Georgian social stratum has not been well served by recent historical investigation. The English lesser gentry, who were recruited into prestigious trades, have not been researched at all. #3 The image of a deep cultural divide between the local elites of land and trade is not accurate at the parish level. In fact, the land to the south of Pendle Hill was known for its poor soil, heavy rainfall, and long-established textile industries. #4 The Pennines were a remote area, far from the centers of polite society. However, they were not lacking in polite families. The valley of the Lancashire Calder was home to many well-established families, who built modest mansions and hosted balls in August 1777.

In 1814, Dorothea Brande leaves the quiet harmony of her Devonshire home and accompanies her officer husband, Charles, to the colony of New South Wales. Here she endeavours to escape the harshness of the landscape - and the appalling brutality of common existence - by cultivating an English garden with the help of her convict manservant, Daniel. Together, in the creation of this garden, two bereft and disoriented people find a new strength and a special kind of refuge. But while Dorothea begins to adapt to the unforgiving environment, her husband is increasingly destroyed by it - until at last they stand on opposite sides of an unbridgeable gulf.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Civility. 'A comic masterpiece.' The Times 'Winning . . . gorgeous . . . satisfying . . . Towles is a craftsman.' New York Times Book Review 'A work of great charm, intelligence and insight.' Sunday Times 'Everything a novel should be: charming, witty, poetic and generous. An absolute delight.' Mail on Sunday 'If we do a better book than this one on the book club this year we will be very very lucky.' Matt Williams, Radio 2 Book Club 'Abundant in humour, history and humanity' Sunday Telegraph 'Wistful, whimsical and wry.' Sunday Express On 21 June 1922 Count Alexander Rostov - recipient of the Order of Saint Andrew, member of the Jockey Club, Master of the Hunt - is escorted out of the Kremlin, across Red Square and through the elegant revolving doors of the Hotel Metropol. But instead of being taken to his usual suite, he is led to an attic room with a window the size of a chessboard. Deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, the Count has been sentenced to house arrest indefinitely. While Russia undergoes decades of tumultuous upheaval, the Count, stripped of the trappings that defined his life, is forced to question what makes us who we are. And with the assistance of a glamorous actress, a cantankerous chef and a very serious child, Rostov unexpectedly discovers a new understanding of both pleasure and purpose.

Regency England: rakes and radicals, poets and patriots, the hardy and the hedonistic. What is a gentleman's daughter to do in these changing and challenging times? She will skirmish for love, ever polite, though sometimes her white kid gloves must come off. Cecilia Wilcox's frustrating and unsettling encounter with a handsome stranger is soon pushed from her thoughts by the appearance of her first love, the rakish, elegant best friend of her older brother. Disapproving of her daughter's choice, her domineering mother takes her to London to find a husband. She introduces Cecilia to a charming rogue and the stranger, whose commanding and inscrutable presence both disturbs and captivates her. Amidst London balls and country house parties, Cecilia must wade through false assumptions, betrayals, and revenge to reclaim the man she loves.